Sidley trial lawyers obtained a significant victory on behalf of Mount Olympus Mortgage Company (“MOMCo”), dba TRU Mortgage, an Irvine-based mortgage bank, after a seven-week trial.

An Orange County jury returned the verdict based on the jury’s determination that a former licensed loan officer and several other former employees illegally transferred hundreds of private consumer loan files from MOMCo’s computer systems to a competitor, Guaranteed Rate Inc., one of the nation’s largest mortgage banks. Upon discovery of the data theft, MOMCo immediately sent cease-and-desist letters to the defendants, which were ignored, prompting MOMCo to report the illegal conduct to the California Attorney General and Orange County law enforcement investigators. MOMCo filed a civil lawsuit in late June 2014 and asserted claims against the former licensed loan officer for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud, and violations of California Penal Code Section 502(c), which covers the unlawful theft of computer data, as well as conversion and misappropriation of the confidential loan files. Given the substantial evidence brought to trial, the Orange County jury found the defendants liable on all counts and awarded punitive damages.  The case is Mount Olympus Mortgage Company v. Benjamin Anderson, No. 30-2014-00729438-CU-BT-CJC (Orange County Superior Court). The Sidley team serving MOMCo included lead trial counsel Chad Hummel (Century City), partner David Carpenter (Los Angeles) and associate Eric Schwartz (Los Angeles). Involved fees earner: David Carpenter - Sidley Austin LLP; Chad Hummel - Sidley Austin LLP; Eric Schwartz - Sidley Austin LLP;